TAKING ROOT: Metro’s Shady Tree Service

Kristina Moseley’s yard will never be the same. A storm last September shredded power lines and uprooted trees. But the damage in Kristina’s yard was man-made.

“This is the tree that started it,” laughs Moseley as she points to a stump in her neighbor’s yard.

If she didn’t laugh, she might cry.

“We’re stuck,” she says.

Moseley and her mother are stuck with a big mess. While removing two damaged trees in the neighbor’s yard, Family Tree Service and its owner, Patrick Williams, destroyed two of Moseley’s trees, a shed and its contents.

Watch the video of the destruction above.

“They were going to replace everything. It was going to be okay.”

It is not okay. Two months later, Moseley’s likens her yard to a war zone.

“We kept calling and calling. We can’t get ahold of them now. Their phones are no longer in service.”

Williams picked up when we called. We asked him about the problems at Moseley’s home. He told us he’d been waiting for the new shed to come in the mail and promised to finish the job the following day. But the next day came and went with no sign of Williams.

It doesn’t surprise Rick Hanson. He owns a company called Family Tree Care, not to be confused with Williams’ business, Family Tree Service. Hanson would also like to talk to Williams. If he could, the conversation might go something like this, “Change the name of your business,” asserts Hanson. “So there’s no confusion between the two.”

Hanson says the similarity, which may be intentional, has cost him business.

“We’ve gotten a number of hang-ups, a number of people have called and cancelled service, thinking some of this shoddy work out there is us. So yeah, we’re kind of sick of it.”

So is Moseley. She says the damage to her yard totals about $2,000. She doubts she’ll ever see the money or Williams.